North Korea released images of what it claims is its first nuclear-powered submarine, which is designed as a challenge to American naval dominance in the region.
The state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on Dec. 25 showed North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, in the company of senior officials and his daughter, inspecting the new vessel, which was first revealed in March at an indoor construction facility.
Kim first discussed building a nuclear-powered submarine as part of a five-year military expansion plan at a party conference in 2021, and called the construction of the vessel one of the cornerstones of his regime’s defense policy.
“We regard the super-powerful offensive capability as the best shield for national security in developing the armed forces,” Kim was recorded as saying.
The North Korean dictator also listed several high-priority weapons systems at the conference, including solid-fueled intercontinental ballistic missiles carrying multiple warheads, hypersonic weapons, two new guided-missile destroyers, and advanced spy satellites.
However, one of the new destroyers capsized on launch earlier this year, to Pyongyang’s embarrassment, but was subsequently refloated and repaired.
Kim called the naval construction program, while inspecting the new sub, “a leap forward in bolstering up the combat capabilities of our fleets,” according to KCNA.
Nuclear-powered subs have the advantage of being faster and remaining submerged for months at a time, whereas conventionally powered subs regularly need to surface for air to operate their diesel engines, in order to charge the batteries that propel them when underwater.
Only the United States, Russia, China, France, the United Kingdom, and India at this time, currently operate nuclear subs.
KCNA claims that the large burgundy colored vessel, which is covered with anti-corrosion paint, has a displacement of 8,700 tons, making it about the same size as the U.S Navy’s nuclear-powered Virginia class attack subs.
Kim further blasted the rival South Korean government’s plan to pursue its own nuclear-powered subs with the support of the Trump administration.
Pyongyang called South Korea’s efforts nuclear-powered submarine program an “offensive act” that severely violated North Korea’s maritime security.
The government in Seoul has wanted the subs for decades, but a decades-old nuclear agreement with the U.S. since the Carter administration had prevented it from building the nuclear-powered submersibles, until President Trump waived the restrictions in October.
Trump said the United States is open to sharing the required technology to allow South Korea to build nuclear-powered submarines, but it is not clear how Seoul would obtain the fuel required to power the vessel.
The South Korean program could take a decade before any subs are built, giving their rivals to the north an early advantage.
Pyongyang has also indicated it plans to arm the submarine with nuclear-armed ballistic missiles, by calling it a “strategic guided missile submarine” or a “strategic nuclear attack submarine.”
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said it detected the North Koreans launching several missiles from an eastern coastal town on Dec. 24, as Kim supervised tests of new anti-air missiles during his inspection tour.
Tensions on the Korean Peninsula have worsened since the failed 2019 U.S.-North Korean summit, with Kim accelerating his nuclear weapons program and deepening ties with Russia following the start the war with Ukraine in early 2022.
His government has since dismissed all pleas from Washington and Seoul to revive negotiations aimed at nuclear disarmament on the Korean Peninsula.
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